Handle



(Nu Model.) A

P G. ROGKWELL.

HANDLE.vr

No. 573,796. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

@1/mi www f @www 7 ./I/l/m W c/@M @@WQQM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK C. ROCIVELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

HANDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 573,796, dated December 22, 1896.

Application lled August 26, 1895 To all wtmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. Rook- WELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain neu7 and useful Improvements in Handles, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the construction of a handle that may be used in connection With bicycles, tricycles, and like vehicles, tennis-rackets, fish-rods, and similar sporting implements, Indian clubs, fencing-foils, and such exercising articles.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, light, and cheap handle that can be easily and quickly shaped and placed by any one about a handle-bar or core whereby a soft, firm, and comfortable grip that Will not heat or blister the hands is insured in localities and on shapes of bars that would not receive a straight and completely-formed handle.

The invention resides in a handle-jacket consisting of a base of tough flexible fabric that can be readily bound about and made to securely adhere to the handle-bar or core, and an exterior Wearing-surface of flexible, soft, firm material, such as is produced by broken cork bound together by a Waterproof gum, which will form a soft grip but will not interferewith the binding of the base about a core having curved outlines, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan of a bicycle handle-bar, showing the invention utilized in providing supplemental handles for the bar. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of a tennis-racket provided with an improved handle. Fig. 4 is a view of the butt-joint of a fly-rod with one of the improved handles. Fig. 5 is a plan of a strip from Which the handle is formed. Fig. 6 is an edge view illustrating the formation of such a strip, and Fig. 7 is a side View of one of the handles ready to be bound about a handle-bar or core.

rPhe handle material consists of a firm, flexible base l and a flexible and somewhat elastic cushioning material 2, applied to one surface of the base. The base lis usually formed in strips or in sheets and then cut into strips of a woven or knitted fabric or cloth-such as Serial No. 560,516. (No model.)

cotton, linen, Wool, or silkand the cushioning material 2, which forms the gripping and Wearing surface, is made largely of a body of pieces of broken or ground cork, which body is held together by a Waterproof binding material, as shellac.

In manufacturing this material the broken or ground particles of cork are mixed in a liquid shellac, or shellac may be sprayed upon the particles of cork, and this'mass after drying is applied to the flexible base material under heat and'pressure. rlhe cork skin applied to the cloth base may be Wound about a core or mandrel and then subjected to the pressure of heated dies. The heat of course first liqueiies the gum, and the pressure forces it into all the pores of the cloth base and all the interstices between the particles of cork, so that when the gum is hardened, as by the application of Coldwater to the dies While the mass is still under pressure, the cork particles are firmly connected with the base. There is but a small amount of shellac used, and this is not subjected to a great heat and caused to stiften to such an extent as to make the material brittle. The interior surface of the base that is not coated with the cushioning material is given a layer of strongly-adhesive cementing compound, so that when the material is bent around a core or handlebar it will be retained permanently in place.

IVhen the strips of material are Wound around a mandrel and then subjected to the action of heat and pressure, the nished product Will come out in the shape of a spiral coil, as shown in Fig. 7, and when in this shape it is easy to bind about the handle-bar or core, Where it is to be utilized to form the handle desired.

The ends of the strip of course are cut off, as shown in Fig. 5, diagonally, so that the finished handle will end evenly. Vhen formed in this spiral shape, the strips can be cut oft' to any desired length and trimmed to any shape, so that they Will be easily bound upon the handle-bar in an attractive and finished manner in the desired location. A fter the material has been cemented in final position it may be sandpapered or ground down by any suitable bufng or abrading means, so as to present a smooth velvety finish, such as incident to a cork handle. Strips IOC) formed in this manner can be bound about handle-bars or cores of-irregular outline, or formed on curves where a straight and completed handle cannot be placed. This handle is particularly useful in connection with bicycle handle-bars. The common style of handle-bar dips downward as it extends backward, so that when in use power can be applied to the pedals and a strong pull obtained on the handles in a direction opposite to the pressure upon the pedals, as when speeding or riding up an incline; but this necessitates a bending over oi' the rider. Very frequently it is not desirable to bend in this manner, and it is not necessary to grip the handles in such a position as to obtain great power, and it is of great convenience to provide a set of supplemental handles on the handle-bar in such a position as to obviate the necessity of bending over.

It has been impossible to form a composition handle or a completely-molded cork handle that has the most agreeable and comfortable grip, so that it could be slipped upon the handle-bars of a bicycle in position to be utilized as a supplemental handle in order to be gripped by the rider without bending, on account of the curve and bend of the bars. By the use of the present invention this is provided for, and handles having all of the comfortable and desirable characteristics of a cork handle can be quickly applied and secured in position on a handle-bar on a curved or rounded section in such manner as to overcome the objections and provide a pair of handles in position to be grasped without causing the rider to bend over.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the usual cork handles 3 are. applied to the ends of the handle-bar 4, while the supplemental handles 5 of this invention are applied to the bar above the first after the handlebar has been finished.

In Fig. 3 the invention is shown in connection with the making of a tennis-racket. In forming such a racket it is common to make the handle end 6 somewhat large and finish the handle-section 7 on a curve. This of course prevents the sliding on of a finished molded handle; but with the present invention a cork handle may be applied and secured in an attractive manner upon a handle of this shape, so as to afford a comfortable and agreeable grip.

The material described in this specification readily bends about the swelled handle between the frame and the enlarged head and can be iinished in an attractive manner.

In Fig. 4 the invention is illustrated in connection with the formation of a fish-rod handle. In this construction the material is readily bent about the swelled handle portion S, and after the cement has become stiiiened the ordinary ferrules 9 and l() may be driven on to nish the ends.

This invention enables a handle having all of the desirable and comfortable eharac teristics of a molded cork handle to be constructed and used in positions on sporting and exercising implements where they are desired and Where a molded and finished handle could not be placed.

I claim as my invention- A handle material for sporting and exercising machines and implements composed of a strip' of flexible non-elastic fabric with an intimately-united outer layer of molded and compressed broken particles of cork and shellac, adapted to'be wound into a spiral coil and secured to a core or bar, substantially as specified.

FREDERICK C. ROOKWELL.

lVitncsses:

H. R. WILLIAMS, E. J. HYDE. 

